1. Field of the Invention
The medical alert mat and the accompanying pager unit is a device utilized primarily for those providing primary care for patients or loved one requiring continual supervision and assistance who are bedridden or medicated to the point where the patient or loved one requires assistance to perform tasks outside of the bed confinement, including toilet access, walking to a chair or general movement, the device having a mat on the floor in a chosen location, the mat having contact plates activated by any pressure on the surface of the mat, sending a wireless signal to a base unit plugged into any 120 volt AC outlet, the base unit having a receiving source activating an audible alarm within a connected or disconnected paging unit sounding the audible alarm when pressure has been applied to the mat. This device may also be used in front of the door of a child's room to indicate the child departure from their room and also serve as a portable security system to detect intruders either at home or during travel.
2. Description of Prior Art
There are several patents which concern remote signaling devices which utilize wireless transmission means, but not as related to the present device, nor do the component parts of the prior art inventions lead one to the elements and interaction of the present invention.
Three monitoring devices are disclosed in prior art, used primarily for monitoring patient activity in a bed. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,482 to Feldl, a simple compression bag is placed under a mattress which relays a reduction in pressure through a wire connection to a remote monitoring station. U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,644 to Stroda includes a first monitoring sensor attached to a patient's clothing and a second monitoring system placed under the patient, connected by wires to a remote sending unit, which transmits a signal to a remote station alarm at a nursing station. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,727 to Nunome, a pressure sensory matrix of bags is placed upon a mattress upon which a patient is placed, the sensor matrix detecting the position of the patient and relaying this static information to a remote receiving unit. All three of these involve monitoring bedridden patients or patients while in a wheel chair.
A remote patient monitoring device measuring acceleration of movement of a patient is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,478 to Jacobsen, which is directly attached to a patient and monitors the movement of the patient. U.S. Pat. No. 6,049,281 to Osterweil uses an image capturing device to monitor the status of a person in a bed or other area which monitors excessive movement in the area.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,589 to Angott, U.S., Pat. No. 5,757,305 to Xydis and U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,193 to Levinson, remote activated door bell mechanisms are disclosed, which transmit a wireless signal to a remote alert mechanism, all activated by pushing on a button. U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,779 to Bartlett is a segmented doormat. U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,415 to Baar, Sr., includes a doormat which causes a light and a bell to activate when someone steps onto the door mat, forcing a plurality of contact points through a rubber pad to engage a metal plate, closing an electrical circuit. No remote system is used, and a plurality of step-down transformers are required in this hard-wired circuitry.
None of these prior art patents include a self-contained door mat which sends an audible signal when pressure is applied through a signal generated by the contact of two charged plates, sending a remote signal to either a plug-in module or a remote paging unit.